fleamarket finds

Thrifting is not as big in Germany as in, for example, the States. I don’t know any thrift stores which I could visit regularly. There is however a huge fleamarket every month in my city where you can find lots and, importantly, only vintage stuff. Usually markets around here are flooded with cheap plastic stuff, so I don’t bother visiting them.
Yesterday I went to visit that market for the first time and boy, am I coming back next month!! It was cold and chaotic and disorienting because of the location but it was also so exciting and they had such lovely, lovely things! I am in love with the things I bought and also with a couple of things I didn’t buy.
First of all, I got these 1970’s records:

I paid half the marked price by the way! I love records and can’t believe everyone is throwing them out. I love setting the needle down on one and I love the scratchy, warm sound that is so different from cd players. Now I just need to get my record player fixed, it’s been broken ever since my cat jumped on it and sent it crashing to the floor, doing a backflip in between (the player, not the cat)… as are my VCR (does anyone else actually use that word any more?) and the dvd player. Being a student and having to go by priority lists of things to repair sucks sometimes (the car is at the top, in case anyone was wondering).
Ok, back to the things that do work and make me happy right now!

Seriously, how adorable is this little sewing basket? And how perfectly does it match my treadle table? And what a great deal was 5€ for it! I am so in love with it and I’ll keep a look out for a little brass lock to cover the patch.
My stuff is finally organized and looking so nice and neat in it. Up to now I kept most of it in old glass jars.

On the left there’s my handsewing thread, pins and markers and on the right I keep buttons and ribbons. Speaking of buttons, these were 1€ a card (buttons are ridiculously expensive here normally!):

And then, almost by accident, my boyfriend’s mom stumbled across a plastic bag full of thread in all colours imaginable. Will you believe me that I paid all of 2€ for it? I think I’m good for the next decade at least!

I also bought one other very very pretty thing which I will show very soon. It’s so pretty it deserves it’s own post!

weekending

My copies of ‘Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified’ by Cal Patch and ‘Water for Elephants’ by Sara Gruen arrived in the mail yesterday. I can’t wait to read either of those, so it’s going to be a rather quiet weekend.

Also my pretty vintage treadle has had to take a trip to the sewing machine doctor’s. Apparently there really is something not quite right with the upper tension (so it wasn’t just my mistake) and while fixing it the shop will give her a good clean as well and do all necessary adjustments and such. I know it’s in good hands but I really miss it already and it will be gone for about a week! I think my relationship with my material possessions is a bit unhealthy…it is certainly wrong to be so emotionally attached to a sewing machine, a notebook or a camera, right?

I should follow the cat’s example…the only thing they’re deeply emotionally attached to is food!

snowed in

Not really, but friends in other parts of the country were! We just got to enjoy landscapes like these while still being able to go out and about.

Preview Balou

A few very quick shots ’cause the baby has only been at the barn for 2 days and is still settling in.
Isn’t he the cutest 8-month-old ever (still squeeing in my head)!

self-portrait

lino love (and tutorial)

Here comes the overdue lino post! I’ve been experimenting with lino cutting and printing or stamping on fabric for the last two or three weeks, and though there have been disappointments, cut fingers and printing frustrations I am loving it and think I am slowly getting the hang of it!
This little zipper pouch is handsewn with printed fabric and interfaced with cotton batting:

So here’s how I do it: I draw an image on paper and photograph it. With photoshop I mirror the image and then print it in the size I want it to be on paper (so you can print it any size you want it to be). I use graphite paper for transfering the image onto linoleum.
When carving I start with the most difficult parts first.

Here’s the cutting nearly finished:

For printing on fabric I use fabric paint, which I apply with a little sponge (the ones you use for make-up). This works like an inkpad. There are fabric inkpads out there, just not where I live, so this is a great substitute!

For smaller images you can also mount the lino on a piece of wood for easier printing.

Then you can go ahead and print on fabric. Be sure to choose fabric paint that can be made waterproof by ironing it after it has dried! Then you can wash the stamped fabric afterwards without ruining the stamped images.

Or print it on paper (for this I use special lino paint which I apply with a brayer)

Now you can go ahead and sew something with the fabric, like the pouch above or this little key charm

or make collages with your printed paper (for this one I printed on vintage tissue paper with fabric paint and sewed it on scrapbookpaper, adding a bit of white tulle)

Thanks for reading this long, long post to the very end!!

biting the dust

I fell with my horse in my riding lesson on thursday. Yep, fell with him, not off him! Ben (the pony) didn’t pay attention and fell over his own feet, and down we went. I originally thought I was fine but it seems I’ve hurt my elbow (which has been bad for years and was the reason I took up horseriding in the first place, because I had to quit playing volleyball). As of this morning I can’t move my right arm higher than a couple of inches without screaming in pain and there goes my sewing saturday…
I had a nice plan for today but now I can most definitely not use the sewing machine, so I will probably do some handsewing or drawing.
I had originally planned a post on lino printing today but I still have to get the photos ready, so you’ll have to wait till tomorrow for that one.

The cuplrit, looking sufficiently unaffected.

weekend shots

Been busy working all weekend with my dad (I’ll post those pics another time) but I took my camera along and here’s the result:
My mom – she’ll hate me for posting this. I begged her let me take her picture because she wore a gorgeous red jumper that went well with the gray walls…and now I’m being mean and posting the black and white version ;)

early morning glory

I love early mornings. I’m a morning person and get up really early at the weekend as well. I love that quiet time when the sky turns rosy and the world slowly awakes.
Inspired by Julies post here I picked up my camera this morning and took a look around me. It’s amazing how much you see when you take the trouble to look! I didn’t even get up from the couch, it was all right there through the window!

I love this slightly out-of-focus shot. All other shots I took were really sharp but this one is just magical to me.

My kitty, he loves early mornings too. Both of them sit like that forever just looking at the world outside and waiting for the birds to wake up.

faithful co-workers

Um, sweetie? I need that file..

But I luuurve this spot!
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And a little sneak peek of what I am working on in the evenings (is there a name for my condition? Craft-crazy? I should open a self-help group…I am a psychologist after all):

Guess what? You have to carve away from yourself and not towards your fingers. Because dang those cutting thingies are sharp and when you cut yourself it bleeds…a lot.

horse shots

Since I’ve nothing new to show, something summery from the depths of my notebook.

For those wanting to know, we’re coping ok I think…my dad’s home for now but the next hospital stay is scheduled for the middle of february. I’m slowly becoming proficient in medical language. Also I’m thinking of moving work (thesis writing) over to his place for the time being. Too bad I can’t take the cats too, I badly need regular cuddle breaks for concentration as well as general well-being.

stitch therapy

First of all, thanks to all of you who offered support, especially our friends from Italy (you guys know I’m not very articulate in Italian, but we do realise how much you’re doing and are so so grateful!).
It’s been a strange and anxious couple of days but things are looking up and will hopefully continue to do so. We have an awful lot to be thankful for and just have to work on focusing on the good things and pushing fearful thoughts aside.
Between being at the hospital and making lots of phone calls I have found stitching to be very therapeutic and have been doing little else for days.
So here goes, nerd alert ;)

and then

just like that, everything fades into the background. Getting the call you never ever want to get at 5am (or any time for that matter), which starts with “this is Dr X from Hospital Y”. Last night my dad suffered a severe heart attack. He was still able to call an ambulance himself despite being in intense pain and for now he seems to be pulling through ok, though he’ll be in intensive care for the next couple of days.
Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.

more mittens

Some more mittens made with my lovely alpaca yarn from Canada! These turned out better than the last pair and are so comfy and warm that I have been wearing them constantly. I won’t even take them off indoors (I like to think I’m making a fashion statement but really it’s probably just silly) ;). I really love the vintagey red buttons with them.
I have enough yarn left for a nice big cowl to go with them, so that will be my next knitting project (and I’ll hopefully get it finished before winter’s over!).

high-waisted plaid skirt

My ‘new’ machine and I are slowly getting to know each other and this is the first (presentable) thing I’ve sewn on it:

:::::::It was inspired by this skirt here, so I can’t take credit for the design: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=107286.0
The fabric is a gorgeous washed wool plaid that I bought on a whim and I thought it was just right for this project. Sewing it up was a nightmare actually. Somehow the bobbin thread I used is a tiny bit thinner than the one that was in the machine to begin with and I never really got the tension right, so lots of seamripping and trying and swearing. Having done everything except the straps I found out I needed to put in a zipper to get the thing on…more seamripping. I did finally finish it though it took me nearly the whole day.
But treadling? I LOVE it! Once you get the rhythm it’s a lot of fun actually. Only problem is I get so caught up in treadling that I forget to watch where my seam is going! I’m the world’s worst multitasker ;)